


Don't Ask About Geoffrey Tennant

by Aeriel



Category: Slings & Arrows
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 18:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/298851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeriel/pseuds/Aeriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna is surprised to discover that Oliver wants to direct Hamlet again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Ask About Geoffrey Tennant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beautifulside](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulside/gifts).



Anna always looked forward to getting the list of shows planned for the next year. Occasionally they came with Oliver's notes on suggested casting and direction (usually at least one show was circled in black sharpie with "MINE" scrawled next to it) but for that moment, she could imagine all the possibilities and potential. The payoff was rarely as good as the potential, though whether that was because of how exhausted everyone in administration was by the time the season opened or because the shows were actually getting worse was generally difficult to pinpoint.

There were two oddities on this list, and they were right next to each other.

"Oliver wants to do _Hamlet_?"

"That's what it says on the list, Anna," Richard said impatiently.

"But..." Anna hesitated, unable to summarize all her thoughts in one sentence, and settling for, "who's going to play Hamlet?"

"We've talked about getting a big name star from Hollywood- I've been on the phone with several agents, and they're all _very_ excited- think of the publicity!"

"Richard, we haven't done Hamlet since..." Anna hesitates again.

"Yes, yes, the board told me, it was a disaster, I know, but this time it won't be! This time, we might have Jack Crew!"

"Who's Jack Crew?"

Richard stares at her in abject disbelief. "Jack. Crew. The action star? From America?"

Anna made a face. "Is that a good thing?"

Richard throws up his hands in exasperation. "Yes! Now I've got to get back on the phone- I don't think William Shatner is available for Claudius, but hope springs eternal."

Anna shook her head, writing _'Jack Crew?'_ next to Hamlet on the casting sheet as Richard hurried back to his office. Ellen Fanshaw was already down for Gertrude, and wouldn't that be fun. Ellen was already paranoid enough about losing her looks- she would probably not take kindly to returning to a show where she had once played the ingenue.

Not that Anna could honestly blame her. Oliver's grudges went deep, and he had been paying less and less attention to Ellen in rehearsal, according to Maria. New Burbage had changed a lot over the last six years.

When Anna first came to New Burbage, Geoffrey Tennant was an up and coming star. Whenever Geoffrey was cast in a show, everyone knew it was going to be a must see. He seemed to live and breathe Shakespearean text, and yet he was largely humble about his success.

That "largely" really depended on who you asked. Anna had referred to Geoffrey's humility at the bar one night, and Maria had laughed in her face.

"Geoffrey Tennant? Humble? I remember when he was Prince Hal, and Oliver couldn't get him to shut up about the lighting. They argued all night, and in the end, Geoffrey ended up dictating the cues to me!"

"Well, he was very passionate," Anna admitted.

"Why are you talking about Geoffrey?" Ellen snarled. "He was a bastard, he's probably still a bastard." She paused to take a shot, muttering, "Wherever he is."

Anna was a little scared of Ellen at the best of times. Anna had ended up in New Burbage because she was looking for something a bit more exciting, and quickly discovered that when your theater was inhabited by people like Ellen, being safely behind a desk seemed like just the right amount of distance.

Much like Geoffrey, Ellen had always been intense. But after Geoffrey's... incident, Ellen lacked direction. Oliver had gotten her to stop lashing out at everyone eventually, but she had all the entitlement Anna had never seen Geoffrey display. Maria kept a faithful record of it.

As a matter of fact, Anna wasn't entirely sure Maria wasn't keeping a secret list of every wrong an actor had ever done to her.

That said, Anna had always liked Geoffrey, personally. He was as unpredictable as Ellen, but he was always early where Ellen was always late, and he always said hello to Anna in the morning.

The thing about Geoffrey was, when he took the stage it was impossible not to be on his side. He had to play the hero, because if he was ever cast as a villain, Anna was quite sure the audience wouldn't notice.

Anna tried to imagine a Hamlet directed by Oliver without Geoffrey. Her imagination failed her.

It didn't help that some of the concept sketches for next year were coming out, and they looked thoroughly uninspired. Anna was too polite to criticize, of course, particularly since she hardly had any ideas for improvement herself, but occasionally Oliver's handwriting was so bad that she had to ask questions.

"What is it? Can't you see that I'm working?" Oliver swatted at the air impatiently as Anna poked her head into his office.

"It's about the, er, props you requested for Midsummer Night's Dream?"

"What about them?"

"I couldn't tell if you said you wanted 'sleet' or 'sheep'."

"Sheep, of course I meant sheep," Oliver said impatiently.

Anna blinked. "Really? What did you want them for?"

Oliver put down the model he'd been tinkering with and fixed Anna with a penetrating stare. "The sheep are essential for the juxtaposition of country life with the raw energy of the forest. And anyway, they're funny. Everyone always wants more slapstick in the Dream, so we're going to give it to them."

Anna had absolutely no idea what any of that meant, but she wrote it down faithfully. "So.. you want robot sheep?"

"What? When did I say I wanted robot sheep? Just come up with a few models and work out the budget with Richard, we'll see what we can do. So long as we have sheep and they're bleating, we're golden."

Anna paused. "Wait, you want bleats?"

"Of course I want bleats!" Oliver snarled. "Otherwise nobody would notice them!"

Anna nodded uncomfortably and fled.

Wherever Geoffrey was, he probably wasn't ordering comedy sheep, that was for sure. If there was anybody who could come out of an institution more charismatic than ever, it was Geoffrey.

Still, six years was a long time. Anna sometimes wondered if Geoffrey had become more idea than person to her. Which wouldn't really be all that strange, anyway- it wasn't as if she'd spent a lot of time with him.

Anna put the list of next year's productions on the bulletin board. They had started e-mailing the list to everyone too, but most of the actors didn't remember to check their e-mail, so Anna thought it was worth putting it up too.

"Ellen wasn't at the matinee today," Maria griped later at the bar. "Didn't even call in sick, just never showed up."

"Oh my god. Was there an understudy to put on?"

"Of course there was, or we'd have had no show," Maria retorted. "Still, if she was anybody else, she'd be out of a job."

Anna wondered if Ellen had read the e-mail that morning about Hamlet.

The next morning, Richard cornered Anna by the copy machine. "I just got a call from Jack's agent and he's free! Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yes, wonderful," Anna said absently. "Who is he again?"


End file.
